Broken Guitar Strings
by Allanna Stone
Summary: What does Erik, Crown Prince of Mulheim and Christine Daae, a young woman who moonlights as a world famous singer, have in common? The answer: a passion for music.


**Broken Guitar Strings**

**I do not own Phantom of the Opera, Within Temptation, or anything else I may toss in here for the sake of it.**

**SUMMARY:**

**What does Erik, Crown Prince of Mulheim and Christine Daae, a young woman who moonlights as a world famous singer, have in common? The answer: a passion for music.**

It was just another ordinary night in late August as Oddette Draven walked into the small, but homey recording studio in downtown Manhattan, carrying her trusty acoustic guitar case and an overstuffed backpack on her shoulder, whistling a merry little tune as she scanned the front room. Her lips broke out into an even brighter smile as she bounced inside, spying the owner of the recording studio.

"Evening, Josh. Am I the first to show up?" she asked the older man, who was fiddling around on his Ipad as he sat behind his cluttered desk in the front office.

"Same as usual," grunted the gruff man, looking up as the redhead bounced about, pulling boxes of cookies and donuts from her backpack and setting them onto a table. "I expect that they'll be hungry in between recording our songs!" she added with twinkling blue and green eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, Stormy Starr, Cassandra Blackfeather, Skyla Myth and Anastasia Autumn entered the small studio, each carrying their own interment of choice.

Angels from Hell was the name, and they've been making music for three years. They started out as being a small garage band with hand-me-down or borrowed interments, but after catching their first gig at the annual Battle of the Bands competition, they quickly found themselves rocketing into stardom. Now they all hand state of the art, brand new interments, which pleased everyone to death and back into the world of the living again.

"Sorry we're late; traffic was a bitch, as usual," complained Cassandra, tapping her drumsticks onto her leg as she waited for everyone to arrange themselves into the spacious recording studio room.

The recording studio room was a glorious place, with black velvet curtains to help keep the sound from bleeding through the walls, several high grade amps placed along the walls and dozens of microphones to choose from.

"I told you we should've left early, but no one ever listens to me!" grouched Anastasia, pulling out her electric guitar and plugging it into the proper amp before letting out a loud, aggressive riff. The girl was tall and willowy, with a green fou-hawk which trailed into several tiny braids that crawled down her back.

"Hey, don't get bitchy at me- I was the only one who agreed with you!" piped up Stormy as she went to stand next to the keyboard stand to set her advanced double keyboard up. She reached into her roll along baggage and pulled out the top keyboard, setting it up in good time before cracking her knuckles loudly, a nervous habit that they rest of the band had picked up on. She grey and black pixie bob was stylishly slicked back to resemble a chic hairstyle that Oddette had pointed out to her a few months back.

"She'd been doing this all day!" groaned Skyla, covering her ears with her hands before grabbing several guitar picks from her case and marching into the room with an ill tempered look on her face. Her sky blue hair was cut to shoulder length and she almost always wore it in a short tail.

Oddette only rolled her eyes before handing over her tablet with the recording program on the screen.

"I only got here five minutes ago, so stop snapping at everyone, Anastasia!" Oddette clamped the studio issued headphones onto her ears before continuing on with her little rant. "Besides, the traffic is always horrid. Next time, choose a better excuse!"

~xoXox~

Meanwhile in the small country of Mulheim, Crown Prince Erik was busy trying to distract himself, but so far, nothing was really working.

He sat back from his desk in the palace library with a heavy sigh, running his hand through his hair as he glanced at the photograph on his desk. He leaned back as he picked it up, a fragment of when he was younger and much more at ease with himself.

A six year old crown prince grinned cheekily at him from on top of a jet black horse. In front of him was a little girl, two year old and with bright red curls. The prince was dressed entirely in black with a gold crown on top of his head, to symbol his status in the world, while the little girl wore a small, plain circlet and earrings made of sapphires and diamonds.

Erik smiled sadly as he picked up the framed photo and looked down into the mismatched eyes of his childhood sweetheart, Christine Daae. They had met when Erik was four and Christine was just a few days old.

_Crown Prince Erik hid behind his father as they entered the front parlor of the Lord and Lady of Daae. The king had been friends with Lord Gustave since the war, when the then crown prince had been rescued from a painful death by the rebel farmer. Gustave had carried the prince to his home in the country and hid him in the basement, sneaking down at night to bring him food and water and to check up on his leg wound._

_Now it was close to six years later, and to repay the kind man for his help, the king had made him a lord and offered to have Gustave live in the newly rebuilt palace, however, Gustave asked if he could still live in the country where he grew up. The king, of course, spent no expensive and had a grand home built for his friend as a token of his gratitude._

_Erik bowed to Lady Marie, who had a little bassinette next to her as she sat on the couch. He then went up to the bassinette and peered in._

_"Who is she, father?" asked Erik, gazing into the sleeping face of the infant child._

_ The king chuckled as the little boy looked down in wonder and awe._

_ "She is to be your queen when the time is right, my dear son," he chuckled as Marie patted the couch next to her. As Erik situated himself, the smiling mother gently placed the newborn girl into the crown prince's arms._

_ Erik held the little girl, not really paying any attention to anything else around him as he gazed into the girl's mismatched eyes. One of a brilliant bright green; the other was a vivid blue._

_ "Her name is Lady Christine of Daae," explained Marie in a soft voice as Gustave, Christine's father, entered the room. His pants were muddy from a long, hard ride through the countryside._

_ "So sorry I wasn't here to greet you, your majesty. You know how it is when you're doing something you love- time flies by and before you know it, it's time for supper!" laughed the jolly man, clapping the king's shoulder as they both hugged each other._

_ "Did you get the flowers we sent you?" Marie asked, her eyes on the two children._

_ "Yes, and I thank you for your kindness in these dark times," sighed the king, bowing his head as he recalled the sudden, brutal assassination of his wife. "Lilies were always Rebecca's favorite…"_

_ The king sighed before gently easing himself into a chair, stretching his leg out into a comfortable position. His leg still wasn't healing right after the long, hard war and it was possible that it would need to be amputated._

_ Erik finally looked up as Christine stirred in her sleep, reaching out with her tiny hand. He placed her finger into her palm and smiled as she grabbed it and snuggled down into her blankets more, her sweet baby face scrunching up as she sneezed._

_ "Bless you, Christine," whispered Erik softly as the little baby opened her eyes to show that one was green, the other blue._


End file.
